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Thursday, September 17, 2015

Altered Halloween Bottles

What a year this has been:: my family endured a 14'th month battle with Stage 4 cancer with my beautiful father. The battle ended this month, with my father going to be with the Lord. We prayed for healing, and I guess it happened...I guess God just had to take him on up to heaven and heal him there.
Then I opened my studio (my LONG awaited studio:: 10 months in the making)::: my studio is on Historic Main Street, across from an antique store. I'm enjoying the creative time, and the solitude of most days. However, I realized no matter how old you get, you miss your daddy if he's not here.
So my father collected bottles, just like I do:: I'm not sure how both of us loved finding old small unique bottles, but somehow that is a trait we shared. I didn't even realize it until just a few years ago. So in memory of my father, a fellow creative:: I created a few altered bottles for Halloween to decorate the front of my studio::
I find some things comforting: like a bunch of old bottles:: buried away dusty, dirty, but once touched by my father's hands:: touched and packed away by his hands that always worked so hard, that guided me thru my life, that lifted so many thru difficult times, those amazing hands that were ALWAYS ready to help someone:::
What do you think? The clear bottles are just bottles::: but the brown bottle was a very old brown bottle of Daddy's::: I cherish that bottle, and I cherish knowing that we shared something: a love of old bottles, and a love for helping those who need it::: such a small thing: to help someone, to provide a helping hand, to lend someone a smile:: it's the little things:: cleaning an old bottle is sometimes like cleaning our souls isn't it? Sometimes we forget how many little pieces of dirt, dust, and webs have found their way in:: until the glass gets so foggy we can't see clearly:: then it's time for the universe or God to send those little "polishing" opportunities, that hurt like heck while they are polishing our soul:: but how much lighter is the soul afterwards::::

I love the idea of taking something old or nontraditional and using it in my artwork: It somehow makes my heart sing. I find joy in taking existing things and turning them into a piece of art that makes me HAPPY:: I guess it's the little things:: the little sparks of joy, of love:: and isn't that what life is really about? Creating joy every day and reacting in love.